


The New Adventures of TimTam, the Chocolate Wonder

by Kirazalea



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Family Bonding, Gen, High School, How Do I Tag, Nicknames, Sibling Bonding, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-14 05:11:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11201142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirazalea/pseuds/Kirazalea
Summary: Everyone has nicknames, some more than others. People that interact with Dick Grayson tend to fall into the latter category.Or, the story of how Tim's newest nickname seems to be spreading.





	1. The Beginnings of TimTam

Kon hadn’t even heard him enter the room (which was pretty impressive considering he had enhanced senses), so when Nightwing flipped over the couch to sit next to him, Superboy was understandably freaked out.

It was a testament to the fact the Kon was far too used to Robin randomly appearing in nearly the exact same fashion that Kon did nothing more than flinch slightly at the newly arrived Bat. 

“Anybody seen Robin?” Nightwing questioned.

Cassie and Bart, the only other occupants of the room, shook their heads. The three of them were the only ones in the Tower, since everyone else had gone out to do a practice training session. By the time Tim, Bart, Cassie, and Kon had gotten back from their recon, everyone had already left. Robin had stalked away almost before his feet had touched the rooftop after Kon set him down. 

_ *I’m your biggest fan, I’ll follow you until you love me, papa-paparazzi-* _

“Ah, that’ll be Tim,” Nightwing announced. The young man winked at the teens and put a finger to his mouth jokingly before taking a phone out from who-knows-where and putting it on speaker on the table.

“Timbo!” he exclaimed playfully.

His reply was almost instant. “Dick, what the  _ actual  _ fu-?” 

“I wouldn’t finish that sentence if I were you!” Nightwing interrupted, glee apparent in his voice.

The sigh that came through the phone seemed to say  _ Why me? _

“Dick,” he continued slowly, as if talking to a child. “Why did I check my phone after a mission and find that I had nearly 250 messages from you from within the past hour?”

Nightwing didn’t make a sound, but when Kon turned to look at him incredulously. Thoughts like,  _ Seriously? Is it even  _ possible  _ for a human to send that many messages in that little time? _ ran though his head.

Kon chanced a glance over at Bart and Cassie and found them in similar states of astonishment. 

“I found something I thought you might like.” When Nightwing spoke, his voice was steady and calm, but full of amusement. 

“Yeah, I got that from the first twelve texts,” Robin snapped dryly. It sounded like he was near his breaking point. Kon wouldn’t be surprised if he started screaming.

Seeming to sense his successor’s patience dwindling, Nightwing switched tracks. “Where are you at?” 

There was a pause before Robin, ever cautious, replied, “In my room at the Tower. Why?”

“Perfect! Go into the living room,” Nightwing commanded, kicking his feet up on the table in front of him.

“Why?” He enunciated slowly, sounding almost fearful of his pseudo-brother’s response.

“Just do it,” he said shortly. “Come on, Timmy, live a little!”

With another sigh, Kon’s friend said he was on his way and hung up.

“Do I wanna know?” Cassie ventured cautiously.

“Even if you don’t, you’re gonna find out,” Nightwing answered cheerfully.

“Oh boy,” Bart quipped. “I definitely don’t have enough to deal with this, be right back.”

In a blur, Bart ran out of the room, only to appear a few seconds later with what looked like half of the fridge’s contents.

“Dude,” Kon chided.

Bart, ever mature, stuck his tongue out at Kon before practically inhaling one of the drinks he had pilfered.

After a few more seconds of Kon glaring at the young Speedster, Robin entered the room wearing a pair of dark gray sweats and a lighter gray sweatshirt that said ‘Gotham University Knights’ in dark navy lettering. Kon wondered for a moment if Tim was somehow in college already, but was reassured that it most likely wasn’t his when he saw that the shirt looked a little big on him, and with his hair still damp from a shower. He also looked vaguely ruffled and rumpled for some reason. Kon had never seen his friend in anything but his armor, and Kon couldn’t help it. He thought that Robin, the fierce warrior and protege of the Dark Knight of Gotham, looked kind of adorable. He would never say that to his best friend’s face, though. Kon liked living, thank you very much.

He was wearing his mask, so his eyes were covered, but Kon could imagine the teen sweeping the room and assessing the situation. 

Kon could pinpoint the exact moment his friend’s eyes found Nightwing. His brows pinched together slightly before his face became carefully blank, though Kon could practically see the way Robin’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The current Boy Wonder crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly. “So. What exactly did you want to show me Wing?”

With a bright smile, Nightwing bounced to his feet and strode across the room to throw an arm over the younger Robin’s shoulders. “I’m glad you asked!” he exclaimed as he led the other towards the couch. As they passed the back, Nightwing pushed Robin ahead of him and reached behind the couch.

With a flourish, he spun around held a package out in front of him. He was met with Robin’s less than impressed face.

“Are you kidding me right now?”

Kon craned his neck to see whatever it was that Nightwing was holding, but was unable to see it.

Still with a bright smile radiating from his face, the previous Robin slid over to couch and threw himself upon it while kicking his feet up on the table in front of him again. 

“It’s a package of Tim Tams, TimTam,” he replied with a cheeky smirk plastered on his face.

Tim was silent for so long after that statement that Kon was beginning to worry.

“I’ll repeat again,” he finally exhaled. “Are. You. Freaking kidding me?!” 

“Nope,” Nightwing countered, popping the ‘p’ with a smug smile. He opened the orange and brown plastic and pulled one out, holding it out towards the annoyed teen. “Wanna try one?”

He looked calm, but Kon knew that his best friend was either a) fuming, b) plotting Nightwing’s death, or c) utterly done with the man he called his brother. Maybe even a mixture all three. Actually, now that he thought about it, it was probably a mixture of the three.

A small noise broke the silence and all eyes turned to Bart, who was sitting on the floor with a hand over his mouth. His eyes crinkled at the sides, showing the amusement he was trying to hide. Cassie’s eyes also seemed to sparkle a little brighter and she was biting her bottom lip with the corners of her mouth turned up. Kon himself felt laughter bubble its way up his throat, but he held his amusement back for the time being.

Nightwing finally brought the attention back to him with a dare. “Come on TimTam, try one of your brothers.”

The look of absolute indignity on his friend’s face was what made Kon finally crack. A chuckle escaped his lips, and when the Dark Squire of Gotham turned to him looking utterly betrayed, Kon burst into laughter.

That seemed to have broken the spell holding back Cassie and Bart’s laughter as they too started to snicker. Soon all three were roaring with laughter, Bart so far gone he was on the ground holding his stomach.

Nightwing, however, had slid down the couch slightly. He had one of his ankles crossed over his knee. His arms were crossed with his thumbs resting against his chest pointing up. The grin that had stretched across his face had melted back into a smug smirk. He lifted his chin slightly when Tim’s eyes finally made their way back to him and his smirk grew infinitesimally wider.

Tim suddenly relaxed his tight posture as a grin of his own made its way lazily onto his face. He crossed his arms loosely and leaned back, tilting his head up to match Nightwing. Actually, it was almost eerie to Kon how alike they looked in that one moment.

“Oh, believe me,  _ Dick, _ ” Tim drawled slowly, spitting the last word out in such a way that Kon couldn’t tell if he was using the older man’s name or insulting him. “The Tim Tam isn’t the brother of mine that needs to worry about getting chewed up.”

With that, Tim immediately shot forward towards Nightwing and Kon quickly leapt off the couch and out of the immediate danger zone. Kon saw Nightwing’s eyebrows shoot up for a moment before reaching out to catch the younger boy that had barreled into him. Kon watched the two wrestle each other from next to Cassie. Bart scooped up the food still on the floor before running over to join them.

The three Titans watched as the two heroes grappled, wincing when Nightwing rolled them onto the floor with a thump and a yelp from Tim. Nightwing had hit the ground first with an arm crooked around the younger’s neck. With Robin splayed atop Nightwing, the blue and black-clad hero brought his free hand to the other’s head with a smile on his face and a laugh spilling out of his mouth unrestrained. He started rubbing his knuckles across Tim’s head and sped up when Tim protested, trying to wriggle his way out of the elder’s grip. Tim managed to elbow Nightwing in the gut and, while the elder was breathlessly laughing, Tim flipped onto his hands and knees. He shoved himself to his feet at the same time that Nightwing planted his hands and feet firmly on the ground, using his position to fluidly push himself up, a move that he made look easy and graceful. Tim’s eyes widened when another smirk overtook Nightwing’s face and the shorter of the two stumbled backwards as the other started advancing. 

Had it been anyone besides Nightwing, Kon had no doubt that Tim would’ve been gone already, disappearing seamlessly with a flick of his cape. He was always put together in battle, and was vigilant even in their more relaxed sparring and training sessions. However, he seemed to have let his guard down almost entirely around the man he saw as an older brother in such a non-threatening environment, making Tim much less coordinated than he usually was as Robin.

Nightwing seemed to have no problems taking advantage of this and pounced at him in much the same way Tim had when he began all this. Nightwing grabbed Tim around the waist and twisted them in mid-air so that he, again, landed on the ground first. While Tim was still vaguely disoriented, Nightwing wasted no time in turning them over and pinning Tim’s arms with one hand and holding his legs together between his thighs. This time, Kon could see Robin’s eyes widen even through the mask. Kon shifted to a crouch when he saw a look of panic cross his best friend’s face, ready to intervene if necessary. He didn’t really think that Tim was in any danger, especially from someone that was practically family, but it never hurt to be prepared. For all they knew, this Nightwing might actually be an evil clone or robot or something. Hell, Kon himself was a clone, so it wasn’t that far of a stretch. It also wouldn’t be the strangest thing that they had seen in their careers. It couldn’t hurt to be prepared, just in case.

Oh no. He was starting to sound like Tim. Rao help him.

Kon tensed further when Nightwing’s free hand darted towards Tim’s neck, and Kon was about to race over there when Tim started… 

Wait. Was Tim…? Was he...  _ giggling _ ?

Kon could honestly say he had never thought that Tim was even  _ capable _ of making a noise like that.

Tim’s loud laughed rang out in the room as he wriggled under Nightwing. He scrunched his neck up and tucked his head down on top of the hero’s hand, but the other persisted. Nightwing’s grin was nearly blinding as he laughed along. Tim managed to break the grip on his hands and started to shove Nightwing off of him, but he was didn’t have enough force as he was nearly breathless from his chuckling. Besides, Kon knew that Nightwing had a lot of practice pinning down bad guys that were twice his weight. Tim, especially a Tim not at his best, wasn’t going to be able to budge him without help.

Nightwing got ahold of both of Robin’s hands again and continued his earlier ministrations. When Tim tried to used his captor’s weight against him, Nightwing laughed and readjusted his balance on his knees and leaned in a bit more. 

“Do you give up yet Timmy?” he shouted out, trying to be heard over the laughs that filled the room. 

“Ne-NEVER!” Tim managed to get out. His declaration would’ve sounded like a line out of a heroic movie if not for the breathless tone in which it was said and the laughter that punctuated in. 

“Aw, come on Tim! TimTam isn’t that bad of a nickname!” Dick continued, chuckling himself.

“Yes it is!” came the reply, slightly more intelligible. “It’s worse than- than  _ Dick _ , and that’s- haha- that’s hard to beat!”

“You little-!” Dick laughed out, abandoning his hold on the younger Bat’s hands to flip around and face Tim’s feet. He then lifted up one of Tim’s legs and continued to tickle behind his knee, a spot that Kon hadn’t even known was ticklish for his friend. When Tim’s laughed doubled in strength though, Kon knew that it was  _ most definitely _ a sweet spot should he ever need to incapacitate the other. 

Tim kicked his legs out trying to get away, and Nightwing turned his to face his captive, and huge grin lighting his face up. “Just let me call you TimTam and this’ll stop Timmy!”

Tim’s mouth opened several times as if to respond, but each time he was overtaken by more giggling and snickering. Finally, Tim managed to stutter out, “St-Stop! Okay, jus-just STOP!”

Nightwing’s mask crinkled as he smiled. He immediately stood up without using his hands and beamed down happily at the kid who was, for all intends and purposes, his little brother. Tim laid on the ground, even when the fight was over. As soon as Nightwing had gotten up, Kon’s friend had gone boneless and seemed to almost melt into the carpet. He was practically wheezing, but Tim had a slightly dopey smile gracing his face and his hair was even more ruffled than it had been when he first walked into the room. The lines that usually adorned his face had smoothed out and Tim looked so utterly and totally relaxed that Kon thought he looked… 

Well frankly, his best friend looked  _ young _ . Younger than Kon had ever seen him, and he definitely looked younger than he had been when they had met. Tim certainly seemed more  _ innocent  _ than Kon had ever witnessed before. Everyone in this room had seen Tim’s eyes already, so Kon knew exactly what he looked like underneath that mask. He could almost imagine Tim as he must have been when he was just a kid. Kon thought that his friend currently looked a bit like the kids that would dazzle him with their smiles whenever they saw him out on the streets. He must have looked a little like that before he became a superhero himself.

Before he had become Robin. Before all the training and death and villains, when Tim was just a bright-eyed rich kid with a camera that followed Batman and Robin around Gotham. Kon’s smile dropped a little. 

He had never really thought about it after his friend had trusted him with his story, but Tim must have been lonely. He’d told Kon that his parents were often gone when he was younger which allowed him to take to the streets for pictures. And Kon had been trusted enough that he had seen a few of the pictures that were so precious to his friend. They were insane, and Kon had had a hard time figuring out the angles at which they had been taken. Many of them, he had concluded, had to have been taken from extremely precarious places. For some, Tim must’ve been quite high off the ground, and for others, the only place he could have stood to have captured such a photo were the sides and windowsills of buildings or hanging dangerously off the roof of buildings. What else, if not loneliness and a want for something he couldn’t have, could have driven his friend to risk his safety like that? 

Kon had never really known loneliness. Ever since he’d come out of that pod, he’d been surrounded by people, even when he didn’t want to be. He couldn’t imagine feeling as utterly alone as Tim seemed to have been for years of his life.

Kon glanced over at Cassie and Bart who both had near identical grins adorning their faces as they too stared at their friend who laid on the ground without a care. 

Dick stuck a hand out when it seemed like Tim could finally breathe once more without gasping. Tim grabbed it with a small smile on his face and allowed his older brother to help him to his feet. Dick then spun him around so that he was holding the shorter of them to his chest and hugged him while burying his nose in Tim’s hair. Kon knew it was to hide his smile, which had turned exceedingly soft and kind.

Kon knew that the Bats tried to keep their personas separate to avoid any chance of their identities being discovered, which sometime lead to them not allowing themselves to do certain things while in their different roles.

Nightwing was known as the wisecracking hero with a smirk and some serious wit, and Dick Grayson was known as a caring big brother and son.

Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne was the airhead that hosted galas and dazzled the world with his killer smile and playboy tenancies, while Batman stood as a grim and unforgiving guardian.

And Tim... Timothy Drake was the weak, quiet, rich kid that couldn’t throw a punch to save his life, while Robin was a genius who saved people and took down men twice his size and age.

So yes. Kon knew that, at first, Nightwing came to the Tower to poke fun at and grapple with Robin. However, he also knew that at some point, Nightwing had allowed his quips to morph into Dick’s playful teasing, and Robin’s indignation had bled into Tim’s adoration for the man who gave him something he had always longed for:

Acceptance and love.

Kon’s smile returned at the site of his best friend wrapped up in his brother’s arms. Tim looked content. He looked… happy.

“Glad you’ve allowed me the pleasure of another nickname for you TimmyTam,” Nightwing announced, pulling out of the hug and flopping down onto the couch. With yet another grin, Bart picked up the package of Tim Tams that he had ‘salvaged’ before the fight started and threw it to Nightwing who, of course, caught it. He pulled out two cookies and took a bite of one, half of the cookie disappearing into his mouth.

“You know, you really should try one, Timbo,” he continued, shoving the rest into his mouth and holding the other one out to Tim. “They taste pretty good. Your family is something else.”

Kon knew he was probably the only one that caught Tim’s near silent whisper. “Yeah. They really are.”

Tim took the cookie with that same small (but sincere, and really, that’s all that matters) smile lighting up his features. Kon could imagine the way his eyes would sparkle underneath his mask as he looked at Dick, who smiled back at him in nearly the same way (he was allowing another tiny piece of Dick Grayson to slip through the mask of Nightwing; as far as Kon had seen, he only seemed to do that around his family).

Tim might have grown up alone, but Dick had helped to make sure he didn’t stay that way. He and Batman allowed and helped him to become Robin, which Kon was extremely grateful for. Otherwise, he may never have met the amazing person that was Timothy Drake. Now, Tim had Batman (who Kon knew was more of a father to Tim than his biological father was), Nightwing (Dick had definitely come to be an older brother to Tim, someone he could look up to and come to for help), Kon, Bart, and Cassie (and what kid didn’t crave a group of friends, especially a kid that’s already known just how lonely the world is without that group around them?), and the rest of the heroes. Kon knew that Superman was like an uncle to the Robins, especially Dick and now Tim (and the thought of that had once filled him was rage, but now only served to make him smile).

Tim sat down on the couch next to Dick and stole another Tim Tam while Dick playfully scowled and stuck his tongue out at him while holding the package as far away as he could. Kon soon joined at Tim’s other side on the couch and Cassie and Bart moved back to where they had been seated before the the Bats had joined them. Eventually, Tim convince Dick to pass the package around, allowing the others to grab one, or, in Bart’s case, three, before handing it back to the two Gothamites (one by birth, one by choice) to share between them.

“Thank you oh so much for sharing, TimTam,” Dick stated with an eye roll, sarcasm heavy on his tongue, when he saw that there were only two left.

“That’s what you get for coming up with terrible nicknames, Wing,” Tim replied cheerfully.

Tim had seemed to enjoy them, so Kon felt safe throwing the entire cookie in his mouth at once. They tasted a bit like Twix bars, but… better. Maybe Kon was biased, but he had to admit, he couldn’t bring himself to really care.

 


	2. The Titans

Tim was going to kill Kon.

The amount of times he typically thought that in a week didn’t exactly inspire confidence that he would actually go through with that threat (not to mention it was probably fairly concerning, considering the fact that Kon was his best friend), but Tim was actually going to do it this time.

“TimTam?” Cyborg repeated quizzically. 

“Yeah,” Kon confirmed, “that’s Robin’s nickname.”

“And, pray tell,” Cyborg sighed, “who gave him that name?”

“Nightwing,” Bart answered, zipping back into the room, arms filled with candy and chips.

Beast Boy huffed out a laugh before quieting under Cyborg’s raised eyebrow.

“Oh come on Vic,” the shapeshifter called out, leaning back on the couch he had been perched on. “Did you really expect anything else? You know as well as I do what he’s like, especially around family.”

“Point taken,” Cyborg ceded, rolling his eyes. “You know what, I changed my mind,” he claimed, standing up and throwing his arms above his head. “Go ahead, use the nickname all you want, if Dick gave it to him, it’s gonna stick anyways,” he called out as he headed down the hall.

“What about Dick?” Starfire asked, floating gently into the room.

Tim groaned. He wasn’t getting out of here any time soon.

Kon looked over at his friend and laughed at how resigned Tim looked at his fate.

“Well, you see…” Kon began again.

Yeah. Tim was  _ definitely  _ going to kill the clone.


	3. The Class

Vivian wasn’t sure what she expected when she went to school that day, but she knew it wasn’t this.

Her day started off like any other. Then she got to the one class she shared with Timothy Drake-Wayne. 

But let’s back up to the beginning again.

She arrived at school prepared for another boring day of schoolwork and bad food.

She breezed through choir and student gov, her first two periods. She was well liked, by students and teachers alike, so she enjoyed her time in those classes, even if she still wished she was at home. It was her third period that she truly dreaded. 

Luckily, she had lunch before the period, so at least she didn’t have to go in hungry. Lunch was longer here since so many parents wanted to use that time to see their kids. She herself had lunch with her parents every Tuesday and Wednesday. Today, however, was Friday, and that meant she got to go out with her older sister who had graduated the previous year.

Vivian returned from the quaint diner they frequented in high spirits, only slightly upset when she remembered that she now had to go to her next period.

Political Science.

It wasn’t that she hated the class itself, she actually quite enjoyed learning about how the government and politics worked and affected people and she knew that it was essential to understand it if she hoped to go into business or politics like her parents, but the new teacher they had hired this year to replace the one that retired was just about the most boring teacher she had ever had, beat only by her eighth grade math teacher. 

When she first saw him, she had thought that his class might be fun since he looked like he was only in his mid to late twenties. However, even from the very first class, she knew that it was going to be a long year with him.

Anyways, she walked into the class after the bell rang and sat down in her seat in the middle of the class, right behind the front desks.

Fellow students spilled into the classroom one by one and in groups, many briefly greeting or smiling at her before taking their seats. However, the one in front of her remained empty, which was… suspicious, to say the least. She sat directly behind Tim Drake, who always beat her to class. She would have assumed he was sick, but she had seen him in passing at the beginning of lunch.

He ran in and dropped into his seat mere seconds before the bell rang, looking slightly flushed and disheveled, something Vivian had never seen before. Tim was always quiet, only speaking up when called on to answer a question, and he was  _ always  _ put together.

Mr. Carn raised an unimpressed eyebrow at his nearly late student before starting on his latest lecture. 

Vivian was struggling to focus herself on her teacher's words and to take notes since Carn had promised that there would be a test next time. She really did try, but when she noticed that Tim had his phone out, she couldn’t help herself. At this point, watching him try not to get caught was more interesting than listening to her teacher drone on. 

He was actually pretty good at hiding it. She figured that she wouldn’t be able to see it had she been in front of him, and Carn certainly hadn’t noticed it.  _ It’s always the quiet kids _ she mused. Kids that acted out and talked all the time were more likely to get caught since the teacher already knew to look for them, while the quiet kids had the element of surprise on their sides.

It also helped that he had hidden it on his desk and only looked at it periodically whenever he finished writing out a note from the lecture. Most kids she saw that got caught hid it under the desk and stared at it. Vivian wasn’t sure why they thought they would get away with it when it’s so noticeable, but whatever.

There were only fifteen minutes left of class by the time Tim was actually caught. 

It wasn’t even because Carn saw him using his phone during a lecture, either, which... Vivian honestly would’ve thought that would have kinda sucked if she hadn’t been so amused with what happened next. 

Tim hadn’t used it after the first five minutes of class and had turned off the screen before continuing with his notes. Carn had continued his rant for most of the period until he was called down to the office to deal with something. He left, rolling his eyes and grumbling that the class needed to study while he was gone and that he would be back in a few minutes.

Naturally, half the class started talking as soon as he was far enough away while the other half pulled out their phones, including Tim.

Tim smiled at his phone after a minute of using it before typing out what looked like a response to a text. However, right after she saw him hit send, she watched as the phone was ripped out of his hand. Since Tim’s desk was the closest to the door, it made sense that he was the only one to get caught as he had given the rest of the class enough time to put their phones away while Carn glared at Tim.

Tim. Who looked exactly like what Vivian imagined a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck looked like. His face was almost completely blank, but his eyes were huge and screamed  _ I screwed up I screwed up Please help me. _

“Phone out, Mr. Wayne?” Carn asked coldly.

“Drake,” Tim blurt out, seemingly a reflex of his since immediately after, he blushed and cringed slightly.

“Mr. Drake, then,” Carn corrected shortly. “Care to share with the rest of the class what was so important that you had your phone out when you weren’t supposed to?” he demanded.

Tim did nothing but look like he was regretting every decision that had led him to this moment.

“Very well then, I guess I’ll have to show it to them myself,” Carn concluded.

Tim’s eyes, if possible, got even wider with panic at the proclamation and he opened his mouth to protest, but was quieted by a withering glare from the older man. 

The teacher moved up to his desk and plugged the phone into the computer before pulling up a program that would allow the class to see Tim’s texts. Vivian felt indignant for her fellow student. It didn’t exactly seem fair that any teacher could show something that personal to an entire class at any time. She knew she would be mortified if it was her phone up there.

However, she was soon stifling laughter both at the look on Carn’s face when he tried to read the messages and the messages themselves.

 

12:16 PM

**Captain Dick:** _ Glad you could make it to lunch today Timmy! I was planning to do this last week on your birthday, but those plans fell out for obvious reasons _

**Tim Drake:** _ Anytime Dick. Definitely beats eating the crappy school food alone. And thanks for getting Kon out of school. I’m really glad he could come. _

**We’re Not In Kansas Anymore:** _Yeah, thanks. I had chem today, so you helped me dodge a bullet there. Besides, you know I’m always up for food Tim, especially when I’m not the one paying ;)_

**Mista Jay:** _ Are you kidding me? You a$$hats got lunch without me and then didn’t even take me out of the group that you’re TEXTING ABOUT IT IN? WHY AM I EVEN IN THIS GROUP TO BEGIN WITH I DON’T LIKE ANY OF YOU _

**Captain Dick:** _ Jason, why did you use dollar signs in your swearing? _

**Mista Jay:** _ Because, Dickwad, YOU hacked my phone so that it autocorrects and won’t let me swear. That’s the closest I can ducking get _

**Captain Dick:** _ Haha, oh, yeah. Looks like my investment has paid off already _

**Mista Jay:** _ Duck you, a$$hole _

**Captain Dick:** _ Love you too Jay <3 _

**Mista Jay:** _I hope you know that if I could, I would be flipping you off right now. That or choking you, really it’s a coin toss_

**Captain Dick:** _I know. It’s how you show your love_

**We’re Not In Kansas Anymore:** _Dick, maybe you should start running I think he’s serious_

**Captain Dick:** _ I’ll be fine _

**Mista Jay:** _If your definition of ‘fine’ is ‘currently breathing,’ then yeah. He’ll be fine_

**We’re Not In Kansas Anymore:** _ Why do I feel like I’m about to witness a murder via text? _

**Tim Drake:** _ Probably because you are _

**We’re Not In Kansas Anymore:** _ Not helping. I’m sitting by Dick right now, if he goes down, I’m gonna end up going with him _

**Mista Jay:** _ Well, if the kid’s so eager to go, who am I to deny him? _

**Tim Drake:** _ Aw, but then who will I complain about Bart’s eating habits with? _

**We’re Not In Kansas Anymore:** _ YOU THINK YOU’RE FUNNY BUT I’M SERIOUSLY ABOUT TO BE MURDERED BY YOUR BROTHER  _

**We’re Not In Kansas Anymore:** _ Though, I’ll admit, I thought that if any of them were going to kill me, it would be Damian the Demon Child _

**Tim Drake:** _ I’ll have you know I’m hilarious, thank you very much _

**Tim Drake:** _ And if we’re going for honestly here, yeah I thought it would be him too _

**Captain Dick:** _ Don’t make fun of him you two. And don’t worry Tim, I’ll keep your best friend alive. Besides, Bart will be sad if he dies and then Wally will be PISSED at me because you know he’ll be the one that has to comfort a hyperactive crying teenager _

**We’re Not In Kansas Anymore:** _ TIM HE LITERALLY WALKED IN THE DOOR HELP _

**Mista Jay:** _ Alright, FINE I’ll leave him alone, happy? ‘Cause if Wally’s pissed, then he’ll go witch about it to Roy, who’ll then witch about it to ME and I really don’t feel like putting up with that _

**Tim Drake:** _ See Kon, everything’s fine. Now shush, all of you, you’ll get me caught in class _

**We’re Not In Kansas Anymore:** _ TIM _

**Mista Jay:** _ Wow, texting in class, what a rebel. I didn’t think the princess had it in him _

**Captain Dick:** _ Jason, you’re literally sitting on me, why are you still texting? _

**Mista Jay:** _ I could ask you the same question _

**Captain Dick:** _... Touche  _

 

1:23 PM

**Captain Dick:** _ Hey Tim, what time do you get out of school again? _

**Captain Dick:** _ Dude, I need to know _

**Captain Dick:** _ I have to pick you up today since Alfred’s gone  _

**Captain Dick:** _ TIM _

**Captain Dick:** _ TIMMY _

**Captain Dick:** _ TIMOTHY _

**Captain Dick:** _ TIMTAM _

**Tim Drake:** _I TOLD YOU TO STOP CALLING ME THAT DICK_

**Captain Dick:** _ Ha! I knew that would get your attention _

**Tim Drake:** _I only replied because my teacher had to leave for a minute_

**Captain Dick:** _ I’ll take what I can get. Now seriously, when do you get out _

**Tim Drake:** _2:10_

**Captain Dick:** _ Alright thanks. See you then! _

**Captain Dick:** _ Tim? _

**Captain Dick:** _ You still there _

**Captain Dick:** _ Wow. How rude. Didn’t even say bye _

**Captain Dick:** _ You really need to stop spending so much time around Damian _

**Captain Dick:** _ Like seriously he does this to me all the time _

Vivian had been attempting to hold back the laughter that threatened to escape since she first started reading the texts that had gotten widely out of hand, but her control was seriously tested when she finished reading them and looked at Carn to see him practically shaking. The class was almost dead silent and Tim looked like he was attempting to melt into the floor.

“Mr. Drake,” Carn began, sounding like he was holding back the urge to scream. “Would you care to explain this… conversation,” he ground out.

“Um…” Tim began, eyes still wide. “Well, my birthday was last week, so my older brother took me and my best friend out to lunch today.”

“And would you mind elaborating on the  _ names  _ in this little  _ chat _ ?” Carn emphasized ‘names’ and ‘chat’ with such sarcasm that Vivian nearly flinched for Tim.

“Uh,” he began. “Well, my brother’s name is Dick, and he likes to quote Captain America. Like, all the time. And Jason, uh, Mista Jay,” Tim said ‘Mista Jay’ with a slight Jersey accent that made Vivian wonder why it sounded so familiar, “well… it’s kind of a long story, but that’s a bit of an inside joke between my brothers and I, and then Kon-er,  _ Conner _ , my best friend that ate with Dick and I today, lives in Kansas so my friends and I make jokes like that around him all the time.” 

Vivian wondered how Tim had a bestfriend that lived in Kansas, but pushed it aside. When your parents were rich owners of a large company, you traveled a lot. Vivian knew that from experience.

Carn took a breath and opened his mouth again, but was cut off by another message appearing on the screen.

**Captain Dick:** _ Now I REALLY don’t feel bad about calling you TimTam _

Vivian saw Tim’s eyes close briefly before he let out a small resigned sigh.

“And what about  _ that _ ?” Carn asked after breathing in deeply once more and crossing his arms. 

Vivian knew that the entire room was watching and listening with rapt attention, and she knew that Tim was aware of this all well. She felt bad for him, but she couldn’t help but be curious about his answer.

“Dick was shopping a while ago and I guess he saw the thing of cookies called Tim Tams. He showed up when I was… hanging out with my friends and flaunted the package around, then called me TimTam and asked if I wanted to ‘try one of my brothers.’” Tim stated while rolling his eyes and using air quotes for the last part of his sentence. “Honestly, I’m as fed up with that one as you probably are, sir.”

Throughout the conversation about his strange nickname, Tim had gone from sheepish at being caught to exasperated at his older brothers antics, a cause that seemed to be shared by both teacher and student.

Carn sighed deeply and hung his head while resting both fists on his desk. After a moment where he seemed to regain his composure, Carn straightened again.

“Mr. Drake, you’re an excellent student, and this is the first time I’ve had this problem with you. I trust that it will not occur again in the future?” Carn proposed, unplugging Tim’s phone and handing it back to him with a stern look on his face.

Tim shook his head quickly before bending down to put his phone in his backpack with a slight blush still coloring his cheeks. His eyes stayed glued to his papers, even after Carn returned to the front of the class.

“Well,” he drawled out, “Since there are only four minutes left of class I figure it’ll be pointless to try and recapture your attention. You can pack your things up, but stay in your seats and  _ don’t take out your phones _ .”

A couple of the braver souls in the class huffed out light laughs at that and Vivian could have sworn she saw Carn smirked for a moment before he turned his back on the class and walked back to his desk. When the bell rang, students got up and left to head to their final classes, but Vivian was one of the last to leave since her next class wasn’t far. Because of this, she heard when Carn called out, “Mr. Drake, meet me after school ends for a few minutes please.”

She saw Tim nod out of the corner of her eye and headed to her last class, a small smile on her face. Looks like Timothy Drake-Wayne was more exciting outside of school than anyone would’ve ever guessed.


	4. The Teacher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is more of a continuation of the last chapter than anything else, really...

Tim was nervous. He was slowly making his way through the congregation of students rushing to get home after a long day at school. He was headed to Mr. Carn’s classroom for his after school meeting. Tim had shot Dick a short text before fourth period had began to let him know he would be a little late getting out.

When he finally made it to Carn’s room, he hesitated briefly before knocking gently on the open door to announce his presence. Carn glanced up from his computer. “You can come in, I’m just finishing up an email, I’ll be done in a moment.”

Tim walked in cautiously. He wasn’t afraid, he had seen too much as Robin to actually be scared of a twenty-something teacher, but, just because he didn’t fear for life, didn’t mean he wasn’t worried.

Carn clicked on something with his mouse before finally turning to Tim. 

And smiled.

Wait.

The teacher that everyone firmly believed was made of ice and bitterness was… smiling at him?

What?

“I’m sorry about earlier,” he began, voice much warmer than it had been just a couple hours ago. “I really didn’t mean to make such a big deal out of the whole phone thing, I know you were taking notes and paying better attention than half the class, but I can’t let things like that go by, otherwise all of my students will think it’s okay to have their phones out.”

Tim blinked. That… wasn’t exactly what he had been preparing himself for.

“It’s… it’s okay,” Tim replied.

Carn’s smile brightened just a touch, reminding Tim a little of Dick. “Sorry if I scared you or anything,” he added, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Everyone thinks I’m super strict, oh don’t give me that look Tim, I do have ears, you know,” he clarified when Tim’s head tilted questioningly. “Anyways,” Carn continued, “I know you guys all think I’m strict and yawn-worthy and all, and I can live with that, but you looked really worried and… I don’t want you to be worried because of me.”

“Um… Al- alright. That’s… Thanks,” Tim sputtered out. This was  _ definitely _ not what he was expecting.

Carn let out a nervous laugh. “By the way, your family is pretty entertaining,” he added.

Tim snorted before muttering, “Yeah, and you caught them on one of their calmer days.”

“Is that so?” Carn asked, eyebrow raised in amusement.

“Yeah.”

“You know,” Carn continued, almost timidly, “I was actually kind of wondering about something.”

Tim’s guard went up just in case he asked about something Tim didn’t have a civilian answer for. “Shoot.”

“Well, if your brother is Captain America, who are the rest of your family?”

Tim sighed internally. Not an ideal question, but one he could answer. “Well, I can’t tell you why because they would kill me,” Tim stated dryly. He purposefully worded that way so that it could be taken as a sibling thing when then might literally kill if him if he explained because most of those explanations involved the superhero side of things. “But, I can tell you who they all are.”

Carn laughed and gave the go ahead.

Tim took a seat on a desk before beginning. “Well, actually, Dick is more Black Widow than anything else. Jason, my next oldest brother, is Hulk. I’m Iron Man, and Damian, my youngest brother is Thor. Cass, my sister, is Winter Soldier, Steph, a family friend, is Captain America, and Babs, she’s practically another sister, is Hawkeye.”

“Noted.” Carn’s lips twitched upwards.

Tim was about to respond when there was a loud bang from outside in the hallway. Carn and Tim both shot up and ran to the door to check. Tim was greeted with the sight of Dick rubbing his head while propped up against a locker.

“Dude,” Tim called out. “What the hell?”

“Language,” Dick replied. Tim rolled his eyes. He didn’t know why he expected anything different at this point. There had been no stopping Dick after he had first seen Age of Ultron.

“Mr. Carn, this is Dick Grayson, my older brother,” Tim introduced when Dick had walked over to shake the man’s hand.

“Nice to meet you Mr. Grayson,” Carn said politely.

“If this meeting is about Tim texting in class, I’m  _ so _ sorry, it was completely my fault,” Dick rushed out hurriedly as soon as they were all in the classroom once more. 

Carn held up a hand to stop his before he got too far into his apologies. Tim thought he was holding back laughter. “It’s fine, really. It definitely gave me a good laugh, though I wouldn’t recommend doing it again for Tim’s sake.”

Dick blinked owlishly for a moment before it seemed to sink in. “Oh. Thanks.”

A smile curled its way onto Carn’s face and Tim couldn’t help but think that he had seen his teacher smile more in the past few minutes than in the entire rest of his career. “Don’t mention it, Romanov,” he replied smirking. Dick was taken aback for a moment when the teacher left it at that and went back to his desk telling Tim not to get caught again and that he was free to go. However, when Tim started pulling Dick towards the door, he saw Dick shoot him an overdramatic glare.

“And here,” Dick declared, throwing his arm around Tim’s shoulders, “I was ready to come in here and grovel for you and take the fall, and you’re in here just chumming it up with your teacher!”

Tim laughed and shoved Dick away playfully, Dick returning his arm after a second.

Tim didn’t see Alex Carn shoot the two brothers a happy smile as they walked away before pulling a framed picture of a girl in her late teens out of his desk drawer. Tim didn’t see Alex smile softly at the picture of his younger sister that had died two years previous. Tim didn’t see that he shared many features with the girl in the picture. Tim didn’t know that he had gotten off so light because he reminded Alex so strikingly of his little sister, and who was Alex to punish a student for doing the exact same thing the two of them had done?

“TimTam, huh?” Carn breathed out, still smiling at his little sister, Tammie. “Sorry Grayson, I might have to steal that one.”


	5. The Batfam

“Why is Drake here?” Damian demanded.

“I told you Dami, it’s a family event and Tim is a part of this family.” Dick sounded only mildly exasperated, which was leagues better than what Tim would have replied with.

“I will never understand why you  _ insist _ on including Todd and Drake,” Damian grumbled, crossing his arms petulantly. 

Dick sighed and ran a hand through Damian’s hair briefly before continuing on his way to the kitchen. Damian and Tim both followed silently behind him.

When the three arrived in the kitchen, it was to the sight of Jason and Alfred talking while they both worked on separate dishes. 

Jason acknowledged them with greetings of “Dickface,” “Replacement,” and “Demon,” though his tone held no trace of the heat that once fueled the words.

“Master Timothy,” Alfred greeted, “it is good to see you after such a long absence.”

And just like that, Tim felt like a child that had been reprimanded for trying to eat a cookie before dinner. All of the Robins had, at one point or another, discussed the supernatural force that was Alfred Pennyworth and his ability to make even the most stubborn and powerful heroes listen to reason. He also had the ability to make people listen when he called them out on their mistakes and wrongdoings. Hence Tim feeling shame crawl up his throat at how long it had really been since his last visit to the Manor. 

“It’s good to see you too, Alfie,” Tim responded, a sheepish smile adorning his face.

Alfred smiled back gently and Tim knew he was forgiven.

“Is there anything I can help with?” 

“Thank you for the offer, young master, but I daresay that I have everything under control,” Alfred answered. “In fact, Master Jason, if you like to join your brothers, the four of you can wait with the young ladies in the other room.” 

Jason sighed before removing the plain apron he had been wearing. Everyone knew that when Alfred asked you to do something, it was better not to argue. It was a lesson all of them had learned in their time at the Manor.

The three former (and one current) Robins made their way into the sitting room to find Steph and Cass sitting on one of the couches while Babs was on the end closest to Stephanie in her wheelchair. Dick sat in the armchair and pulled Damian into his lap to cuddle with. Damian pretended to fight against the affection, but soon gave in and settled in. Jason and Tim sat on the remaining couch across from the girls, with Jason kicking his feet up on the table between them and crossing his arms behind his head.

A comfortable silence reigned in the room until Jason finally broke it.

“So, how have my favorite losers been?”

Steph and Tim both snorted at his words, all of them long past feeling insulted. Damian glared without any real malice in his gaze, Cass had a small smile on her face, and Dick rolled his eyes good naturedly.

“Good as can be expected,” Dick answered shortly.

“So… none of you are dead yet, is what you're saying?” Jason retorted.

“Basically,” Steph surmised. 

“Great,” Jason replied with a roll of his eyes. 

“What about you, Jason? You’re still going around with Kori and Roy, right?” Barbara asked, even though Tim was sure she already knew the answer.

“Yeah,” Jason began. “Not sure how much longer that’s gonna last though, to be honest.”

“Grayson, when are we leaving for patrol?” Damian asked, craning his head up to look at Dick’s face.

“Hey, Tim,” Steph began, pulling Tim’s attention to her and Cass, who was looking at Tim as well with a tilted head. “How’re the Titans going?”

The seven continued in their separate conversations for while until Tim’s stomach growled loudly, interrupting the flow of voices.

Six sets of eyes turned towards him, and Tim fought a blush against the sudden attention. Eyes downcast, he hurriedly explained, “I didn’t eat before I came, it’s no big deal.”

“And how long has it been since you last ate?” Dick questioned, a crease forming between his brows as they drew together.

Tim thought back for a moment. The last time he remembered eating was… yesterday afternoon. He tried frantically to figure out a way of relaying that information in way that wouldn’t make Dick worry, but when a frown marred his face, Tim knew he had taken too long.

“Tim, we’ve talked about this,” he started solemnly. “You need to take better care of yourself. Take a break from work and school every once in awhile and eat something, take a shower, watch a movie, hell, even just sit down and  _ relax _ . You’re going to run yourself ragged.”

“I know Dick,” Tim argued, “it’s not that I  _ mean _ to, it just, sort of… you know… happens?” He faltered through the statement until it ended up as more of a question.

Dick sighed, sensing the truth in the younger’s words. “Yeah, I know Timmy. Just… don’t work too hard, yeah?” Tim wanted to argue that he was hardly working too hard. Every moment he spent not working on a case was a moment that could have been put towards saving another life, another family from being torn apart. Tim knew that Dick understood, he was very much like Tim in that respect, hell, every single one of them was for that matter, but even before he opened his mouth to point that out, he looked up and saw Dick’s wide, pleading eyes and pouty face and knew he was doomed.

“Please, Timmy?” he pleaded in a soft voice. Honestly, it was almost  _ worse _ than the kicked-puppy face, which was saying something as that face could melt the  _ entire Justice League _ . Tim was just glad that Dick had no plans for world domination, because he wasn’t sure anyone would be able to stop him with that in his arsenal.

With a groan, he conceded, throwing his arms up and saying, “Fine! Alright, I’ll make sure to eat more, promise! Just… stop with the puppy eyes thing!”

Dick’s face immediately lit up like he had been told that Christmas was coming early. “I knew you would look out for yourself eventually, TimTam! You just needed a push in the right direction! Although, you should know that I  _ will _ be checking up on you to make sure you follow through.”

His slowly quieted on his rant when he realized he was the only one talking and not staring incredulously at either him or Tim. 

“You guys okay?” he questioned, voice laced with almost childlike confusion.

“ _ TimTam? _ ” Jason eventually choked out. “I know you like nicknames more than you should, Dick, but seriously, what the fu-”

“There are children in the room!” Dick yelled with his hands covering an irritated Damian’s ears, drowning out the second oldest brother’s cuss.

“Okay,  _ fine _ ,” Jason bit out, rolling his eyes, “but, seriously? What made you pick freaking  _ TimTam _ ?”

Tim blushed and groaned in embarrassment. He had hoped that that name would die and be forgotten, but apparently he had no suck luck.

“Well, I was at the store, back when Tim was Robin, right?” Dick began, as if he were retelling a tale of splendor. “And I was in the junk food section.” Here Steph hummed in understanding, nodding along. She too spent  _ way _ too much time in  _ that _ particular section of the the store. Dick smiled at her, encouraged before continuing, “Anyways, I was in the candy isle, and I saw this orange and brown package that said Tim Tam on it, so I went over and picked it up and it was a package of these cookie things that looked pretty good, and they reminded me of Tim, so I bought them and took the rest of my stuff home. I texted Tim to tell him about them and sent him a picture, but he didn’t answer so I headed over to the Tower to find Tim. Turns out he had been on a mission, but I got there right after he got back.”

“Again,” Tim interjected, defeatedly, “do you have any idea how annoying it is to come back from a mission to find  _ over 200 _ texts on your phone,  _ from the same person _ ?”

“Alright, fine I’m sorry,” Dick said quickly. “Anyways, Tim came into the room with Superboy, Impulse, and Wonder Girl, and, long story short, the nickname just kinda stuck.”

“Huh,” Steph said, a strange look dawning on her face. “TimTam it is then,” she smirked.

“Agreed,” Jason put in, looking over to Tim with a smug look on his face. “I’m still gonna call you Replacement, don’t get me wrong,” he continued, nonchalant, “but I can do both.”

Babs smiled over at him and said, “I’ll only call you that in private with the family, Tim, don’t worry.”

At this point, Tim would take what he could get. 

Cass simply shrugged over at him as if to say  _ I can neither confirm nor deny that I will call you this. _

Damian narrowed his eyes and glared at Tim lightly before a glint came into his eyes and he too smirked at his most recent predecessor. “It is a completely absurd and childish name that I would never speak under any circumstances. However, seeing as it almost pains you to hear it, I’ll make an exception.”

“Thank you,  _ so _ much Damian,” Tim groaned, glaring at the floor, crossing his arms petulantly. 

“Aw, cheer up Timbo,” Dick said, eyes crinkling in amusement.  “There are worse things to be called.”

“Yeah,” Jason added solemnly, “like Dick.”

Dick glared over at his younger brother who looked quite satisfied, and Tim couldn’t help but laugh. It was nice to know he wasn’t the only one in this family that wasn’t afraid to bring that up.


End file.
